A Bells Beach single-fin from 1975 – born again

With the Bells WSL World Longboard leg starting this week, well, here’s a piece about a Bells board from 50 years ago – that’s still kicking.

Story supplied:

Back in 1975, Dick Van Straalen made a board for Andrew McKinnon (Andy Mac), to compete in the annual Rip Curl Bells Easter contest. Andy Mac, as he is commonly known, finished ninth at Bells that year. Michael Peterson took the trophy home for a third consecutive victory.

Shortly after Bells, the colourful board was handed on to John “Steaks” Stead who gifted it to Geoff” Boots” Towner (Laurie’s dad) of Brooms Head, who called it ‘the best board he had ever had’ and surfed for 20 years before retiring in to the attic.

Half-a- century on the legendary DVS stick has been returned to mint condition by master restorer Goran Peko.  The 7’2” by 19’ single fin, square tail featured a unique green & yellow spray colour design by Brett Livingstone Strong who was working at Van Straalen’s Miami factory as a young artist. Brett eventually became a celebrated artist. US President Ronald Reagan, Fleetwood Mac, Yoko Ono, and Michael Jackson were amongst the long list of celebrity clients who commissioned his work, and he was eventually knighted. He currently resides in LA.

Photos of Andy Mac riding the board at Bells & Burleigh re-appeared on FB almost 40 years later, when Boots Towner contacted Andy. They had never met before, but when Boots saw the board on FB he said, “Hey that’s my old board and I still have it packed away!” Consequently, the pair hatched a plan to restore the DVS shape with the classic Livingstone spray and exhibit it in the Port McQuarie Surfing Museum.

The board was freighted from Brooms Head to the Gold Coast where Goran Peko, a renowned restorer, was assigned to bring the iconic board back to life!

Beginning in September 2024, Goran performed the meticulous restoration process single-handedly with fervid dedication. After stripping the board right back to the Farrelly foam, Goran re-glassed the top and bottom, adding Brett’s unique colour design and re-sanding the single fin back to its original shape and position. The transformation was striking, a testament to Goran’s skill and the capacity for a surfboard reconstruction to make relics into fine objects of art.

Next stage of the journey was catching up with the original creator, Dick Van Straalen (DVS), and his trusty sander & longtime close friend John “JC” Charlton for a photo op.  After reuniting shaper and surfboard, AndyMac connected with Boots’ youngest son, Laurie Towner, who agreed to complete the intergenerational journey and take his father’s board for a spin. Laurie wasn’t born until 1987, more than a decade after the board was made.

After a full month of waiting, a new ESE swell materialised with enough pulse for Lozza to go surfing on his old man’s favourite board & finish the five-month-long project.

 “It made me want to go surfing on it again!” said Boots of the board that had lasting nostalgia.

But the golden memories linger with rare footage of AndyMac performing at Bells 1975 Easter Pro thanks to a Dave “Mexican” Sumpter movie resurfaced on social media 50 years later.

The reconstructed legendary DVS stick has been returned to mint condition by master restorer Goran Peko. It will be displayed at The Collective Palm Beach for the “Frosh Sesh” event Sunday 2nd November 3pm – 6pm rooftop featuring Brazilian/Peruvian Dancing, Live DJ Sun Haus, special guest Cheyne Horan & raffling off Cheyne’s latest surfboard model the Rad Zapper.

For more info on Froth Sesh stay tuned to wscc2026.com.au